When you feel like a break from the hubbub of Rome, the Castelli Romani offer several good options. Today we make our first visit to Castelgandolfo, which is one of the dozen hill towns known collectively as the Castelli. Among its claims our attention are these: It sits on rim above a beautiful crater lake. It is the site of Alba Longa, and this is the very ancient town from which Rome descended, at least according to the legend of Romulus and Remus. Later, it was the site of summer villas enjoyed by the wealthy Romans of the Republican Period, and later still the Emperor Domitian built a villa here that included the entire volcanic lake and surrounding area. Meanwhile, the Romans had built a tunnel over a mile long that penetrated the crater and enabled them to limit the rise of the level of the lake.

So different from the pagan Romans in other respects, the popes followed their example when it came to choosing locations for summer residences outside of Rome. We thus can visit a papal palace, papal gardens that—though narrow—are over a mile long, and a beautiful church built by Gianlorenzo Bernini, thanks to the patronage of Pope Alexander VII.

This charming little town is also a good place to discuss World War II in Italy, since it was caught in the crossfire for four long months between Germans in the hills and Allies down on the beaches near Anzio and Nettuno. The summit of Monte Cavo was also occupied by the Germans for its advantages as an observation and communication post.

The town also invites a discussion of the relationship between science and religion, since it turns out that it is the home of the Specola Vaticana, the astronomical observatory run by the papacy, and one of the most striking features of the Papal Palace is that it has two beautiful telescopes on its roof. Perhaps surprisingly, even before the condemnation of Giordano Bruno, scientists had figured out how to move away from the lunar calendar, according to which Christmas could turn up in the summer.